76 comments:

Seeing Everyboday's Fine tonight with a friend even though I really would've rather seen Up in the Air. Too bad I already made plans to see the latter next week.

But even if the movie isn't good, it's still Sam *frickin* Rockwell and Drew *frickin* Barrymore with Robert *frickin* De Niro. And no, I don't know why I decided to write their names like that all of a sudden...

I was in class today and someone brought up how tacky the Iraq War films are, claiming we need a 10 year window before we can tastefully address major events. Someone else mentioned World Trade Center as evidence to disprove that assertion. As in, someone (then someone else, and someone else, and many more after that) thought World Trade Center was a classy, non-exploitative treatment of 9/11.

And Bette Davis wept. What a load of crap. Battle Royale II: Requiem is a classier treatment of the events and it claims America deserved it.

Not even the professor had seen United 93. I forgive him because he plans on including The Hurt Locker in an American Studies course next semester.

The farther I get from it, the more I feel like AI Artificial Intelligence is one of the most interesting films of the decade. Though I know this is mostly a case of selective memory, which is why I'm dubious about watching it again

Although I am okay with the ending which I never believed was Spielberg indulging his sappy side again. Yeah, David, as a metaphor for people gets the best we can hope for, a moment of love before an eternity of being shut off. Sappy?

Just saw the trailer for Remember me, Jenny Lumet's follow up to Rachel Getting Married. I'm hearing alot of positive things about the screenplay being a possible awards contender for next year. Is it just me or does anyone else think it shows alot of promise? What does everyone else think?

I really wish more people were talking about Fred Melamed in A Serious Man. He was, for my money, the best part of the movie, and the best supporting actor this year. So far. I mean, I haven't see The Messenger, but Melamed effin' rocks. Also, I need to see Everybody's Fine because Drew Barrymore is my gal.

The roomie and I are listening to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and reminiscing about how much we love that movie. I saw it for the first time last year and it has grown on me more and more as time has passed. Just moved it up to #2 on the Netflix queue, just behind In Bruges...

I'm going to go out and support the movie Brothers, because I fear that it is going to end up being a movie that will be shut out of the oscar race.

Also, I have to give kudos to Howard Stern for voting for Jimmy Fallon as Hot Tub Johnny in Whip it on his SAG ballot. At least SOMEONE is recognizing that great movie. It's a shame that Adventureland,an alright movie, has received more accolades than Whip It. :(

Robert, what I don't understand is everyone who moans over AI's supposedly grossly sentimental ending. The ending was one of the most saddest, things I've ever seen. As a ten-year-old watching it, I was in shock; it was just all things bleak and pathetic to me. How the hell is it a happy ending?

Also, I've been confused about the Sandra Bullock buzz as well. Oh man, if she does end up taking the spot from Abbie Cornish, she had better knock my socks off.

I think audiences are going to be split on "Nine", much in the same way they were split over "Watchmen". Most American audiences aren't going to "get it", which may or may not pose a problem come Oscar time...just something I've had on the back of my mind. Then again, Rob Marshall sucks, and that's a problem of it's own:-)

saw LA DANSE last night, an incredible, beautiful Fred Wiseman documentary about the Paris Opera Ballet. it's 2hr.39min. of pure bliss. not in wide release, obviously, but if it's playing at anyone's neighborhood, check it out.

I was planning to see The Box this afternoon, but my train was delayed and I didn't make it on time. Still in a cinema-mood, I crossed town to the independant theatre, vowing I'd buy a ticket for whatever was showing next. Y'know, I figured it'd be more worthwhile than the Richard Kelly brain mush. Anyway, the next show turned out to be Hilde, a biopic of German actress-chanteuse Hildegard Knef which was screening as part of the German film festival. I'd never heard of Knef and I'm quite sure she lead an interesting, vivid life, but the picture d-r-a-g-g-e-d.

Today I catched "We live again" on a local tv station. It is a 1934 adaption from Tolstoj's "Resurrection" starring Fredric March and Anna Sten and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. I was baffled at the movie's unapologetic mix of great directorial choices (the soundtrack, as always with Mamoulian), interesting symbolism (the rain!), religious subtexts, a good dose of socialism, lots of old-fashioned facial expressions and poses and an unsatisfactory hollywood romance... All in all, I think the best adjective for this movie is 'ridiculous', but I love to be remembered how strong and fascinating was Hollywood myth-making at that time!

@LIV... i want to be invited to such parties. what a great dress code.

@KYLE... sigh. i have my own issues with Marshall but most of them involve things that aren't really totally his fault.

@STELLA ... i am one of those people who moaned about AI's ending(s). but then i almost always find it almsot impossible to deal with the deflation at the end of Spielberg movies ... half of them at any rate. I think the dismount is where he most often stumbles.

i just couldn't take the talking teddy bear and the multiple endings. i hate multiple endings.

@OtherRobert... i hate hearing abotu film classes because the professors always sound terrible to me. Like for example, who was it the other day who had a professor that showed a western during the "melodrama" portion of the film history class. argh.

Speaking of dodgy film professors, I had one who admitted to a class that he didn't like going to the cinema alone because it made him feel 'creepy'. He also started a conversation by pointing to a girl and saying "You'd never just sit at home and watch a dvd alone, would you? Nah, nobody would."

Nat- Yeah, I feel the same way about Zack Snyder... he's like the hyper-macho version of Marshall, makes interesting choices that just never really work in the end...and occasionally pulling some really poor performances from actors that don't help the cause.

Speaking of Rob Marshall, I had a funny thought for a porn spoof name of one of his films...sadly I just found out some studio beat me to the punch.

Okay, has anyone flipped through the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly? Well, it’s their Entertainers of the Decade issue and--while TheFilmExperience’s continuing retrospect blows their’s out of the water--I got to say EW deserves a pat of the back for their official Top 10 Films of the Decade list:

01.) THE LORD OF THE RINGS (inevitable but probably deserved)02.) BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (oh. my. god. yes!!!)03.) GLADIATOR (eh?)04.) THE DARK KNIGHT 05.) WALL-E (nice!)06.) MOULIN ROUGE (should have made the top 5 but I’ll take it)07.) CHILDREN OF MEN08.) 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (ha) 09.) LOST IN TRANSLATION 10.) ALMOST FAMOUS (the inevitable ‘what-the-fuck’ pick)

Obviously, they couldn’t make everyone happy but in terms of pleasing both cinephiles and the average movie-goer… I gotta say I’m impressed! With the exception of “Gladiator” and “Almost Famous”, I’d say the films on this list can make a hellva case for their respective slots. I just wish Almodovar had made the cut… ;)

P.S. oh and be sure to flip to the last page… EW gives Oscar voters another delicious ‘we’ll-never-forget’ slap for Black Sunday

I think Charlize Theron gave the best performance of her life today, when she (a) pretended she gave a rat's ass about soccer and (b) worked around the bizarre rambling of the weirdo Frenchie from FIFA while evading his smarmy advances. Give that girl another Oscar.

"CRUZ: I remember when we were working on Nine with Sophia [Loren]. We drove her crazy asking questions—at least I drove her crazy asking her every day about [Vittorio] De Sica and Fellini and [Marcello] Mastroianni and all of the amazing people who she’s had the opportunity to work with. She is so incredible, this woman.

COTILLARD: Yeah. She’s the perfect mix between la mama and the movie star.

CRUZ: It’s true. She looks like a goddess. But she was always worried to see if we were eating enough. I was eating like a pig during that movie because I wanted to gain a few kilos. I was eating nonstop. But it was never enough for Sophia. She would say, “You’re not eating enough, and then you’re doing all this exercise! And I just saw Marion, and she left the table. That one eats less than you do—nothing!” [both laugh]"

@PPO-10...just what the United States did not need - a group with enough relative patsies (Algeria, Slovenia) that not winning/not advancing to the next round of the World Cup is once again seen as a huge underachievement.

Oh, yeah, that's right, movies...

Sandra Bullock is very good in "The Blind Side", but well short of top-five status. Abbie's biggest problem will be with the precursors not having a long enough memory. And to those who make comments along the line of I hope (fill in the blank)'s performance is not good, I would rather root for every performance to be as good as the performer can deliver and the director can elicit. The real winners when that happens are the moviegoers, who might be tempted to plunk down a sawbuck again for something else if they like what they see. When there are more butts in more seats, we all win.

Getting seriously eager for "Avatar" to knock off my socks and those of the Academy voters...seriously, Nataniel, I think five nominations is an underestimate and the chances of "breakthrough" recognition in the field of ten are a lot better than you currently suspect.

Just come back from a screening of The Road. Why-oh-why-oh-why is no-one talking about it this awards season?!!! Masterpiece. Pure. Wow. It is the definitive cine-fication of 'off-beat'. Quite unlike any other film I've seen before.

Carl -- agreed!! No excuse with Slovenia/Algeria. USA may be overranked but their recent performances should still be enough for me to expect making it past the group stage. Which clearly means a second consecutive 31st-place finish.

Theron. I still haven't seen North Country...somehow it has consistently hovered between 3rd and 9th on my Netflix queue. Any good, Oscar nods or not?

I wonder if Veronika Decides To Die will be any good, when the showing times for The Road are, if I'll ever get around to watching Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and if Mila Kunis and Tom Cruise were really in Zombieland.

Now I remember what I was suppose to say:Today in my journalism class, some girl was doing a story on the Twilight obsession and asked the students in that class who likes Twilight. Surprisingly, none of them raised their hands. Then my teacher commented about Kristen Stewart saying that her daughter, who is 13, thinks she can't act out of a paperbag. Then we proceeded to mock her so-called acting. Such a hilarious class :)

Watched "My Blueberry Nights" last night. I tend to love directors who create gorgeous images and have a signature visual style, but for some reason I have never gone crazy for Wong Kar-Wai. I know that's weird--and a sacrilegious thing to say around here!

What is the point of film?? Usually on these types of sites all everyone talk about is Oscars and performances, direction, how flawed the film is, but do we actually talk about the purpose of the film anymore??

How it relates to our real life or how it makes us see things differently? Or are we above that??

Michael -- Saoirse, really? I think her face is a marvelous marvelous movie face (can't wait to see her grow up onscreen ... it seems like she might be fascinating to watch as an adult) but i don't think the movie asked her to do anything really other than be sad, sweetly shy or narrate.

Ok so I don't want to get off topic. but, this new DeNiro flick is pissing me off; I have yet to see it, nor intend to; my concern is that the preview claims that DeNiro could be one of the best actors of our generation. Message to film producer: DeNiro is one of the best actors of our generation, if not THE best. His accomplishments need not be considered in your advertisement for this crummy holiday flick. When will Hollywood stop ruining what we love the most!?

I have no problem (none) with Mo'Nique winning the Oscar except for two thing. I'm never thrilled when an Oscar winner is telegraphed to me months in advance (even when it's Javier Bardem), and I'm no fan of Mo'Nique's pre-Precious work. That said, she deserves it. Yet I'm excited just by the *idea* that I might be watching Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Woody Harrelson pick up Oscars the same night. That's what it's all about.

@KEVIND... i hope everyone who feels as you do will quickly watch BROTHERS (the original) because subtlety is one of its strongest assets. When the meltdown occurs, it's all the more powerful for happening within such a quiet observant film

Well I'm working on a film and it takes up so much of my time that I don't think I'll see any movies until Christmas week.

I will say that professors are so much better/cooler when you are not their students anymore. I guess it's the relief of limitations or something. My former professor is the cinematographer of the film but I guess that he seems more intelligent because he's in his element.

Now that THAT EVENING SUN is getting more out there, I'm glad to see Hal Holbrook getting some attention. His crotchety old man is fantastic as the film reaches its inevitable and very real conclusion.

The screenplay is a study on how to turn a short story into a fully realized film.

Ooh, ooh, ohh, I second that! I realise it's difficult to arrange it all with people's schedules, but if there's any way at all I would relish a repeat of last year's quartet. I actually recently relistened to the podcasts from last year - so, so funny.

@Nathaniel-Ronan's performance was absolutely terrific. If her performance didn't work, then the whole movie would have been awful.

And Nine was good. Very good. I really enjoyed it. I actually thought Kidman was better than the reviews make her out to be. Kudos to Hudson for trying to make her song work--but her character was pointless. If you took it out of the movie nothing would change. You'd just have it shorter by 10 minutes. Fergie was perfectly cast. Don't know anyone else who could have done 'Be Italian'.

But Cotillard and Dench stole the show. Cruz was good as well but not as great as those two.

Why do we never get to see toilets in period pieces? It'd be nioe to see their toothbrushes or what they used as dental floss. What did they keep in their first aid kits? Something fot the Black death?

And back to our own time. How many real life Newyorkers have had a trascendental conversation with their partners at the bottom of the stairs of their entrance door?